The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True

Richard Dawkins, the world’s most famous evolutionary biologist, presents a gorgeously lucid, science book examining some of the nature’s most fundamental questions both from a mythical and scientific perspective. Science is our most precise and powerful tool for making sense of the world. Before we developed the scientific method, we created rich mythologies to explain the unknown. The pressing questions that primitive men and women asked are the same ones we ask as children. Who was the first person? What is the sun? Why is there night and day?

If you are a truly religious person you will find much to be critical of in this wonderful book. It breaks evolution down into truly basic information that can be understood by anyone, even a child. I am neither religious or scientific by nature and I have pondered many of the subjects Richard Dawkins covers, but without the education in any of the disciplines that cover this information I could not be satisfied with any kind of reasonable answer. Dawkins really makes his subject understandable and he is a very good reader. Both he and Lalla Ward are easy to listen to and they kept my interest to the very end. He starts each chapter with a simple question such as "Who was the first man?" and then tells you clearly and in interesting detail exactly the answer to that question. It is one of the best science books that I've listened to.

This Is How: Proven Aid in Overcoming Shyness, Molestation, Fatness, Spinsterhood, Grief, Disease, Lushery, Decrepitude & More. For Young and Old Alike

To say that Augusten Burroughs has lived an unusual life is an understatement. From having no formal education past third grade and being raised by his mother’s psychiatrist in the seventies to enjoying one of the most successful advertising careers of the eighties to experiencing a spectacular downfall and rehab stint in the nineties to having a number one bestselling writing career in the new millennium, Burroughs has faced humiliation, transformation and everything in between.

Hat's off to Augusten Burroughs for treating these subjects with a good dose of reality. I hate the tippy toe way so many of these very LIFE ALTERING events are usually treated in self-help books. I have experience a few myself and I agree with Mr. Burroughs about how you get through and go on. Too many of us wallow away our lives in whatever misery trips us up and can't get a grip on coping and continuing. I plan to listen to this book again and again - just to feel that good ol' kick in the pants to keep me motivated. It is on my iPod and not coming off! Thank you Augusten!

The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, And Long-term Health

The China Study offers conclusive evidence that a change of diet can dramatically reduce the risks of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. The book is based on the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted, a 20-year joint project between Cornell University, Oxford University, and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine. The study surveyed the eating habits of 6,500 adults from all over China and Taiwan and found a direct correlation between diet and disease.

Dr Campbell lays it out in a clear and understandable format that proves - yes PROVES - that animal protein is causing most if not all of our cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other terminal diseases. This book is changing my life. I am now on a plant based diet and plan to continue for the rest of my (hopefully healthy) life.

Another book to companion with this one is Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Caldwell B Esselstyn, Jr., M.D. Dr. Esselstyn proves it in a different way but once again - PROVES it.

Both these men and their families practice what they preach and practice a plant based diet. It's a matter of life or death - a really awful death or a wonderful healthy life. You get to decide.

Chomp

Wahoo Cray lives in a zoo. His father is an animal wrangler, so he's grown up with all manner of gators, snakes, parrots, rats, monkeys, snappers, and more in his backyard. The critters he can handle. His father is the unpredictable one.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story about a father, his son and a friend from his school. The predicaments the TV 'survivalist' got into are just too funny! Great book for all ages. The lessons in morality and good common sense are perfect for Young Adult readers.

Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School

Most of us have no idea what's really going on inside our heads. Yet brain scientists have uncovered details every business leader, parent, and teacher should know - such as the brain's need for physical activity to work at its best. How do we learn? What exactly do sleep and stress do to our brains? Why is multi-tasking a myth? Why is it so easy to forget - and so important to repeat new information? Is it true that men and women have different brains?

The Areas of My Expertise

In the great tradition of the American almanac, The Areas of My Expertise is a brilliant and hilarious compendium of handy reference tables, fascinating trivia, and sage wisdom on all topics large and small. Although best sellers such as Poor Richard's Almanack and The Book of Lists were certainly valuable, they also were largely true.

This is a book on various subjects and is entertaining in the extreme! I love John Hodgman and his humor so I was completely captivated. If you're not a Hodgman fan because you aren't familiar with his work - this should bring you into the fold. It's a book about everything and told with the straight-man's comedic timing and point-of-view.

The Broken Teaglass

The dusty files of a venerable dictionary publisher, a hidden cache of coded clues, a story written by a phantom author, an unsolved murder in a gritty urban park: all collide memorably in Emily Arsenault's magnificent debut, at once a teasing literary puzzle, an ingenious suspense novel, and an exploration of definitions: of words, of who we are, and of the stories we choose to define us.

When I listen to a book I want:
1. A reader(s) with a good voice and ability to read without monotony.
2. A good story to hold my interest.

This book fullfills both my requirements. The three readers; Eileen Stevens, Oliver Wyman and Therese Plummer make this more like listening to live theater than listening to a book being read. They are great at bringing the characters to life and keeping the listeners interest.

The story is interesting to anyone with a love of language and it's subtleties. The work of a lexicographer was fascinating to someone not familiar with that profession.

The plot moved at a gentle pace and I never considered the story to be a 'murder mystery'. Arsenault's style reminded me of Annie Tyler and the story unraveled in a way you felt you could possibly know these characters.

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